[Harp-L] Accompanying Virginia Honors Choir[long]]

[rmcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

  Last weekend I had the privilege of performing with  the Virginia Honors
Choir at the annual VMEA [Virginia Music Educator's Association] concert.
I played the harmonica part in Mark Hayes' choral arrangement of "Home on
the Range." The conductor was Eph Ealy, who is a well-known conductor of
choral music.
  The Honors Choir is made up of the very best high school choral singers
in the sate of Virginia, selected by audition; the VMEA conference is
attended by, of course, VMEA members: middle school, high school, and
college music teachers from all over the state of Virginia.
  I worked on my part for several weeks before the concert, then rehearsed
a couple of times with the choir. It was exciting but stressful: i've
never done anything like this before, ie worked with a conductor and
choir, played my harmonica in a "legit" situation...
  I could write a lot about my experiences  but I won't. Suffice it to say
that I did better in the 2nd rehersal than the concert: made a couple of
mistakes in performance but overall did OK I think. The conductor and
pianist were complimentary about my playing, as were many of the VMEA
members. I think the idea of the harmonica as a legitimate instrument
became just a tiny bit more real in a few people's minds, and that's a
good thing...
   I will add a caveat: before the Honors Choir a symphonic band from a
high school in Virginia performed, and several college brass players
played with the Honors Choir during a couple of pieces by Bach and
Mozart. Sitting and listening to these young musicians play was both
thrilling and humbling because the simple fact is that there are very
few harmonica players who can play with the technical facility some of
these young people displayed [certainly not me]...we still have SO far
to go for our instrument! Anyway, it was a great experience for
me...I've attached a few pictures of the event.
WVa Bob

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